Warcross

 Bibliography: Lu, M. (2017). Warcross. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 978-0-399-54796-6

Plot Summary: Emika Chen is a bounty hunter. She chases after people who illegally gamble on the virtual game, Warcross. But she is behind on rent, threatened with eviction, and has barely enough money to feed herself.  So when the Warcross championship begins, she jumps in as an audience member. When a valuable power-up is exposed, she hacks into the game to steal it and is immediately caught.  But rather than getting into trouble, the game's inventor wants to hire her to spy on the tournament players to deal with a security problem.  But what she finds is much more serious and the person she idolized is not who she thought he was at all. 

Critical Analysis: A great book for reluctant readers. The language is simple, but not overly so and is appropriate for a middle or high schooler.  An elementary student that read at a higher level could enjoy as well as the language is not overly complicated.  The story is fast paced, and keeps the reader wanting more. Marie Lu has a great way with words and uses them to create some great visuals such as "It protests for a moment, but then speeds me forward, a dot in a sea of moving humanity" (4).  She makes good use of other literary elements such as personification: "Death has a terrible habit of cutting straight through every careful line you've drawn between your present and your future" (21).  Though this is a work of fantasy/science fiction, it is very believeable as technology is moving at such a pace that one day this may be possible. 

Reviews:

Kirkus Reviews: "A stellar cyberpunk series opener packed with simmering romance and cinematic thrills."

Wordpress.com "Warcross is arguably Marie Lu’s most captivating creation yet. Set in a vivid world dominated by ultra advanced technology, expect the battles to be just as exciting as your favorite virtual computer games. "

Awards:

YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, 2018

YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, 2018

Yals

Connections:

Use in a high school English class. After teaching students the various literary elements, read the book together as a class and have students create a graphic organizer identifying instances of each element in the reading. 

Use in an English class of freshmen or sophomores.  Read together and analyze plot, theme and character development.  As you read, have students keep record of examples of literary devices such as similes, metaphors and hyperbole. 

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